It can sometimes seem like IT and business trends are a dime a dozen. This makes it difficult to determine which trends are likely to last and which are destined to fade away in the near future.

Sometimes, though, it is fairly obvious that a trend is here to stay, and one leading example is the rise of telework. Telework is increasingly popular with both businesses and employees, and there is little reason to doubt that it will continue to expand and gain support in the coming years.

In order to prepare for this development, it is critical that firms invest in the necessary tools and resources. And among the most important of these are secure file sharing solutions. Only with such offerings in place can businesses enable their workers to remain productive and collaborative even when outside the office.

Telework rising
The most striking recent example of the growing significance of telework can be found in Dell's newly released 2020 Legacy of Good plan. This document outlined several of the company's plans for increasing social and environmental responsibility throughout the next six years. Among the most notable initiatives highlighted in this plan is the goal of increasing participation in flexible telework programs to 50 percent among its total workforce.

This is significant for several reasons. First and foremost, it is probably the single largest commitment to telework that any company has yet expressed. While obviously other firms have begun to develop remote work programs, no organization of this size has such a major goal in place.

Furthermore, there is the fact that Dell is pursuing telework for a variety of reasons, with the leading motivation being to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. After all, employee commuting is a tremendous source of CO2, and telework enables workers to limit or even eliminate their commuting altogether.

Additionally, telework is extremely popular with employees. Workers like the flexibility that it offers, and the simple fact that their commutes become far less burdensome. Consequently, businesses that adopt teleworking solutions typically feature more satisfied workers, and therefore higher employee retention rates. By embracing telework to such a degree, Dell is clearly trying to increase its appeal to skilled workers, which can give it a major competitive advantage in its sector.

Lastly, workers who enjoy the ability to telecommute often become more productive, as they are willing to work more hours thanks to the convenience of performing their tasks and the avoidance of a time-draining commute. This is undoubtedly a major benefit for companies in every industry.

Enabling telework
Yet for telework to be a viable option, employees need to be provided with tools that allow them to send, receive and access corporate files and other data securely and easily. Without this ability, remote workers will not be able to perform their job responsibilities, or may pose a security risk to the company's network.

Secure file sharing solutions can circumvent this problem. With these tools in place, collaboration and independence become easily attained, and both the company and the workers benefit.